This commentary is part of an ongoing dialogue that began in the October 2011 special issue of "Performance Improvement"--Exploring a Universal Performance Model for HPT: Notes From the Field. The performance improvement/HPT (human performance technology) model represents a unifying process that helps accomplish successful change, create…

Strategic planning is critical to ensuring that institutions of higher education thoughtfully and systematically position themselves to accomplish their mission, vision, and strategic goals, particularly when these institutions face a myriad of risks that can negatively impact their continued financial viability and compromise their ability to…

In this article, authors Deborah Helsing, Annie Howell, Robert Kegan, and Lisa Lahey argue that today's educational leaders face a host of complex demands as they strive to implement lasting, meaningful change in their school environments. As these demands often require a level of personal development many adults may not yet have, there is a need…

The introduction to this paper gives a short overview of the Environment and Schools Initiatives (ENSI) perspective on teaching competences. We argue that as change is one of the key elements of sustainable development, reflection that helps to adapt educational practice to a continuously developing world should be a starting point for every…

Distinctions between natural ecosystems and human ecosystems are misleading. Natural and social sciences can be integrated through the concept of a "human-use ecosystem," in which social scientists analyze the community, household, and individual, and natural scientists analyze the land. Includes a case study of St. Kitts. (KC)

Presents one teacher's experience of organizing and producing a high school theatrical group specializing in performances for younger children. Describes recruitment of students, writing the script, rehearsals, performances, and student feedback. Argues that such an undertaking is English education at its best.(HB)

Given the abundance of open education initiatives that aim to make educational assets freely available online, the time seems ripe to explore the potential of open education to transform the economics and ecology of education. Despite the diversity of tools and resources already available--from well-packaged course materials to simple games, for…

One effective method to improve the learning of science is through case study teaching. Teachers use realistic or true narratives to provide opportunities for students to integrate multiple sources of information in an authentic context, and may engage students with ethical and societal problems related to their discipline. However, little…

The use of environmental scanning to link the external environment to institutional strategic planning is exemplified in Michigan State University's approach. The university's program is described, and in an appended section, 25 external tendencies are presented and related issues, trends, and events outlined. (MSE)

The feasibility, problems, and benefits of involving a university's marketing faculty in the marketing activities of the admissions office are considered. Louisiana Technological University's experience with using marketing faculty in enrollment management is seen as exemplifying how problems can be overcome to everyone's benefit. (Author/MSE)

Describes an externally funded program that enabled twelve urban elementary schools to expand community outreach by hiring community residents and a program coordinator who worked with service agencies and teachers to develop a wide variety of activities catering to students and neighborhood members. One school's program is profiled. (Author/MSE)

Examines the subtle and not-so-subtle factors underlying private/public partnership formation in university settings and proposes a framework of "institutional readiness" for engaging in such efforts. The experience of the California State University in its innovative technology infrastructure initiative is discussed as an example. (MSE)

Describes dynamics and interventions in relation to adolescents who express concern about gay and lesbian issues. Advocates therapeutic intervention based on psychological and emotional aspects of sexual preference, and cultural and social expectations of those who identify themselves as gay or lesbian. Describes three case studies. (Author/BB)

Describes two study abroad programs based on service learning at the Centers of Lutheran Reformation in Germany. Participants not only fulfilled community needs but also forged individual relationships that helped them reflect on global and economic issues that they could not have understood from classroom lectures alone. (Author/VWL)

This article contains three sections: (1) a literature review demonstrating that powerlessness is linked to disease and empowerment to health; (2) an exposition of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire's empowering education theory with a comparison to traditional health education; and (3) a case study of an empowering education substance abuse…